What To Do When You Are Missing All the Fun

Are you missing all the fun and feeling left out? Does everyone have the grand adventures while you do the boring tasks that allow them to save the world?

We enjoyed lots of family time last week at Thanksgiving, but at 4:30 my husband took off to lead a team to feed the homeless. Everyone else rounded up our grandkids and headed home or left to visit other relatives.

I used the next two hours to do the dishes. By the time I finished, my back hurt, and I was exhausted.

Apparently it’s the natural order of things. The men go on grandiose missions to reach the lost, and the women keep house. *scrunched face* I don’t think so!

Now, I’ve been on many grand adventures myself, and I’ve learned to enjoy the “left behind to keep house” part of the package. It has been a learning curve. I’m not naturally wired to keep house. I like the grand adventure part.

Here’s what I’ve learned when it seems I’m missing all the fun

1. Adjust your attitude. You might not have gone on the adventure this time, but eternity future is before you, and it is full of adventure.

2. Be thankful you can do the boring part of life. (There was a season after breaking my foot when I couldn’t walk to the kitchen sink and do the dishes. Not fun.)

3. Make a boring task into an exciting task, or at least make it pleasant. Use the boring job to pray, enjoy the quiet, cheerfully involve others in helping you, relish doing the task “your way,” or listen to your favorite music. (When Tom was in the Philippines on a mission’s trip, I gathered up some friends and painted all the cabinets in the kitchen. Very fun.)

4. 1 Samuel 30:1-25 tells the story of David rescuing women, children, and stuff that his enemies stole while David was out of town. Getting them all back was an adventure for David and most of his team, though a few had to stay behind and guard the supplies. My favorite part is the very last verse:

The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.

Staying behind to guard the supplies and missing all the fun while other’s save the world has rewards! Yep, I’m good with that.

I hope your life is balanced with grand adventures and times of staying with the supplies. Such balance is good for your soul.

Your turn: Have you ever felt left out of something exciting? How did you handle it?

“Jesus likes it when we share.” -Adelaide, age 3: Pass this along to everybody and their brother. OK, maybe not everybody’s brother, but you know . . . all of your friends would be nice.